


Anomalies

by danceinmystorm



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Ben owns a restaurant, Blind Date, F/M, Rey is there for a blind date
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-01-31
Packaged: 2021-02-22 15:16:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22485028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/danceinmystorm/pseuds/danceinmystorm
Summary: Her eyes then glanced down to the phone sitting next to her book and then her smiled dropped.Shit, Ben groaned. That’s her. Of course it is.Before he could think about how terrible of an idea this was, his feet were already walking towards the woman and stopped right behind her stool.“Good book?” he heard himself say.Good book? You really want to start this as creepy as possible?
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo
Comments: 6
Kudos: 85





	Anomalies

5:00 PM

The lunch rush had ended a few hours prior and only a few patrons lingered in the restaurant with the stuff bustling around to prepare for the evening guests that would come in on their dates or celebratory parties in the recently opened _Millennium Falcon_ restaurant. It sat on the corner of a relatively busy street, its exterior juxtaposing with the surrounding businesses with its charcoal brick pattern and tinted windows. It would look imposing to the random passerby, but its appeal was its modern aesthetic; a crisp futuristic font above the doorframe to label the place and a brightly lit menu to show possible patrons their exquisite offerings, both intriguing enough to warrant a chance.

The interior was no disappointment either. The feel of a Michelin star restaurant without the prices; it had the food, the service, and the atmosphere. Surprisingly cozy with the interior design, the black brick was paired with soft lighting and red velvet seating, a rich colored wooden floor, modern but minimal art, and several electronic fireplaces to create an atmosphere of home.

Ben exited the kitchen after making his rounds to greet his staff for the night, shaking hands and asking questions, professional and not, such as “Did we get that shipment of wagyu beef? I really want to get Chef to make some samples for a special.” and “How was Anna’s recital? I bet you cried.” When he started his business, he made a point to hire the best of the best and to treat them like humans than a workforce for their happiness and satisfaction to reflect in their work output. Its part of why the restaurant has started successfully and continued to bring in numbers higher than the initial year projections. Ben’s investment in his business was already met and exceeding. And they were still in their first year of opening.

Which is why the restaurant was able to stay open during the quiet periods of the day; after lunch and before dinner. Ben decided that rather than making his patrons have to remember his open hours, he’d make the restaurant available for anyone who walked by. So the 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM hours began and stayed, even if the hours between 1:30 PM and 5:00 PM made them minimal revenue.

This was a day that Ben regretted that decision though. He normally didn’t get many day drunk patrons in his restaurant, since the servers and bartenders knew when to cut someone off the alcohol, but the man currently sitting at the bar arguing with his bartender had come in drunk to begin with. He had security in the evenings for this reason but never had the reason to have them prior to 6:00 pm.

The man, his face matching his red-hair, was pointing a finger at his bartender Phasma, who looked as though she couldn’t care less, as she wiped down the bar’s glassware. The man’s voice was getting higher and angrier by the second, saying something like “ _you will give me another whiskey cause I’m paying for it_.” Ben saw that it was time to intervene when he heard some derogatory terms in a British accent coming out of him.

“Excuse me,” Ben approached in a calm manner. He dared not lay a hand on this man, knowing that the reputation of his restaurant, and himself, could go down in flames in a second. “Can I ask what’s going on here?”

Phasma looked bored as she polished the glasses to perfection and only looked over at the disgruntled man with a displeased face. Ben figures that the situation is exactly as it looks. This man was causing trouble for no other reason that he’s intoxicated at 5 o’clock in the afternoon. He wasn’t any danger to Phasma or to anyone else in the restaurant. But that didn’t mean Ben had to allow it.

“Sir, I think it’s best you go,” Ben said, motioning over to the exit.

“I will not,” the angry man said in a slightly slurred British accent. “I need to drink more. I have a _date._ ”

Ben’s eyebrows raised. This situation was more amusing than annoying now. He didn’t really care to know this man’s personal life, but he had to know why this man wasn’t looking forward to his date.

“It’s a _blind date_ ,” the man specified.

Ben nodded. _There it is._

“Just for drinks though. My friend thought it was a good idea. Cause, the girl I’m supposed to meet, she’s British too. Like all British people like each other. Or know each other. Said I should _get out there_ and _meet new people_. It’s so dumb. I can’t even remember her name right now.”

“And drinking is going to help that?” Ben asked. The man merely played with his empty glass, looking forlornly at its lack of liquid.

“I didn’t even agree to it,” the man continues. “But I got a text that she’s supposed to meet me here at 6:30 and I was thinking that it’d give me some courage, you know? Maybe make me nicer. I’m not the nicest person, especially to women. Not that I’d put a hand on them or anything. No, no, never. I’m just not a patient man. Well, except for one woman.”

_And there it is again_ , Ben thought. This man was in love with someone else, but his meddling friends thought it would be a good idea to push him into meeting someone that he may not be compatible with. Ben felt for the man, understood how friends seemed to just get involve in things they shouldn’t, think they know what’s best for him, telling him he spends too much time in the restaurant when it’s already going so well. _Wait, we’re not talking about me_.

Ben turned his attention back to the man who was now more slumped on his barstool. This man was in no position to drive home and certainly shouldn’t be making any first impressions in this state. Pulling up his Uber app, he sighed and said to the man, “I’ll get you an Uber. Type in your address. You can’t meet someone like this, especially if you really don’t want to.”

The red-haired man looked up with his watery eyes – whether its from his intoxication or emotions, Ben couldn’t tell – and he wrapped his arms around Ben, sobbing into the black cashmere sweater. “You’re too nice,” the man mumbled into Ben’s chest. He took Ben’s phone and tearfully typed in an address.

“Just do me a favor,” Ben said, taking the phone back and ordering the Uber. “At least tell your date that you’re cancelling. I really don’t want to see someone here waiting for an hour for someone who’s not going to show up. May end up as a bad Yelp review depending on the person.”

He got a laugh from his sad acquaintance and a pat on the back. “I’ll do just that. I’ll go wait outside for the Uber. You’re cool man. Thanks.”

Ben merely nodded and watched as the man stood on the sidewalk, swaying on his feet, head turning left and right to watch for his ride. Only when Phasma let out a sigh did Ben come back to reality.

“He’s gonna forget to tell the date, isn’t he?” Ben mumbled to his bartender.

Phasma nodded. “He probably already forgot about her. He couldn’t even remember her name.”

Ben ran a hand through his hair. This wasn’t his problem. There must’ve been several instances of stood-up dates at the restaurant since it opened and he didn’t know anything about them or cared, and they certainly haven’t shown up on any online reviews of the restaurant, not that he watches them like a hawk. But in those instances, he was intentionally blind. This time it’s like he was specifically told to watch out for a woman who’d come in, who may or may not be looking forward to this date but would look around for an absent date nonetheless and _wait._

And he knew what time the date was supposed to be. Fuck. Maybe he’ll intentionally keep himself busy once 6:30 rolls around.

6:15 PM

Rey turned the corner and saw the restaurant Rose told her to meet her date at. She was a little flustered, not because of her date, but because she walked all the way here from work in her heels and business attire. She knew that if she’d driven, she would’ve probably been late because she’d have to find parking, so the best case was to walk. It was a decent day anyways.

As she stood outside of this nice restaurant that she’s never been to though always meant to visit since her brother worked there part-time, she adjusted her hair in the tinted window. Her minimal makeup didn’t need any touch up, but Rey wished she had time to change into a nicer outfit. This was her first date in years, her first since moving to the city, and even if she wasn’t exactly sure who she was meeting she still wanted to make a good first impression.

Rose only gave her a brief description. Red hair, blue eyes, tall, and _he’s British_. Rey had to roll her eyes at that. _Of course_ her friend and coworker just had to pair her up with the other British person she knew. It’s not like Rey knew much of her life in Britain. Just enough to know that she’d been in a foster system there, adopted with her foster brother by a family in America, and that was it.

Rey had to appreciate Rose’s efforts though. It was a nice gesture to do this for a friend, even if it forced Rey to go in blind. It had been set up so quickly that Rey hadn’t had the chance to say no. Rose planned it specifically to be at a time when Rey would be off work but had time to spare before attending her psychology class for her master’s degree. She’d be closer to campus here in the city, so going home seemed silly and a waste of gas. She had just enough time to meet with this man and then have the reason to cut it off early if she needed to if she wasn’t feeling it. Rose planned it out perfectly.

Seeing no further reason to delay her entrance, Rey walked into the restaurant. It was busy, but not full, but Rey could tell that it would be filling up quickly for the evening. She told the hostess that she would be meeting someone at the bar and the waitress gave her a smile and pointed toward the direction of the bar. It was occupied by a few singles and doubles, none of whom had red hair, so Rey found an empty pair of seats and resolved to wait.

She checked her phone a few times in her first initial minutes of meeting. It wasn’t 6:30 yet so it’s not like he was late. Rey was a stickler for schedules though and always believed that if you’re not early, you’re late. But it’s not like she was going to hold that against him – they hadn’t even met yet.

Rather than looking bored on her phone, Rey decided to take her book out of her purse and read. While it would probably make a good first impression on someone, she mostly cared to read from the required book for her class. She’d fallen behind on her readings just a tad and figured it was a good a time as any to utilize her time.

Rey only looked up once when a blonde bartender approached and asked her if she wanted a drink. She didn’t drink so she asked for a Coke. When the bartender nodded and walked away, Rey felt dumb for sitting at the _bar_ and not ordering any alcohol. But she was told to meet him at the bar, and she wouldn’t drink when she didn’t want to. She had class later anyways so even if she did want to break her personal rule, it just wasn’t a good idea.

A Coke appeared in a heavy glass in front of her, seated on a napkin, and she said a thanks with a smile, and went back to reading her book.

7:00 PM

Ben filled in for a runner that had come in late for a little emergency. When Finn finally arrived, Ben was met with profuse apologies and puppy-dog eyes.

“Finn, it’s okay,” Ben assured him. He was balancing two meals with his large hands and made his way to the floor. “I’m tagging out now. And don’t worry about it.”

Ben’s tone was serious enough to make Finn stop apologizing and nod. Ben watched as Finn made his way to wash his hands and Ben exited the kitchen to deliver the two meals in his hands. He smiled to the patrons, presenting their meals while saying what they were, and wished them a good meal.

He naturally made his rounds across the floor, making sure all of his customers were happy and wanted for naught. He filled glasses with water and listened to a few tables that had nice words for him, his food, and his staff. He was relaxed as he made his way toward the hostess at the front.

“How are we doing?” he asked Kaydel, readjusting his sleeves that he’d folded up to comfortably serve food.

Kaydel tapped on her iPad and smiled. “So far all reservations have been cleared and we’ve only had to have new customers wait about 10 minutes or so for a table. So, we’re full but not overwhelmed.”

“Perfect,” Ben sighed in relief. “I forgot how busy it is for servers. Maybe I need to hire a few more.”

“I don’t know if they’d like that,” Kaydel laughed. “You know they fight for those hours. I think everyone really likes their schedules right now.”

“Huh,” Ben replied. “I didn’t know that that was the case. I’ll make sure to get everyone’s input. Some extra help wouldn’t hurt, especially with the holiday season coming. Everyone gets their hours and we get the help.”

Kaydel simply nodded and turned her attention to the couple entering. Ben politely nodded and walked away, absentmindedly going towards the bar. Only when he saw someone sitting at the bar, nose deep in a book, and alone, did he remember the incident from earlier.

_This must be the poor girl getting stood up,_ he thought to himself. _Or not. She could just be here to read. I mean it’s not exactly the ideal place to read a book. Maybe she’s meeting someone else. That must be it. Someone that cute can’t be stood up by some guy._

Ben shook his head, ridding his mind from that thought. He didn’t know where that came from. Yeah, his first impression had been that she looked pretty. Dressed in work attire with her hair let down. And yes, she was cute from a distance. He could only see her profile and how she crossed her legs on her stool, leaning on an arm while the other kept her book open. Only when Phasma seemed to check on her did Ben see the dimple on her cheek when she smiled and shook her head. The smile reached her eyes. Her eyes then glanced down to the phone sitting next to her book and then her smiled dropped.

_Shit,_ Ben groaned. _That’s her. Of course it is._

Before he could think about how terrible of an idea this was, his feet were already walking towards the woman and stopped right behind her stool.

“Good book?” he heard himself say.

_Good book? You really want to start this as creepy as possible?_

She looked up at him and blinked a few times. Then she smiled a smile that reached her eyes again. “Yeah, actually. It’s for my psychology class. Interesting stuff. Really makes you think.”

Ben smiled and eased himself to the stool beside her. She had a British accent, not quite like the man he’d met before, but enough to confirm his suspicions. The stool momentarily distracted him, not remembering the last time he sat down on one. He remembered the day he picked them out. Fabrics on fabrics on metals on colors on prototypes and so on.

“Not exactly the place to be reading,” he said, clearing his throat. He could see Phasma eyeing him as she served a customer at the corner of the bar. He avoided her eyes. He knew how weird this must’ve looked.

Ben was a social guy, especially with his customers. He’d spend time to talk to them at their table, talk about how he thought of this restaurant, concept, menu and all. He’d shake hands like his politician mother and smile and crack jokes like his pilot father. But never did he sit down with them. He always felt like he would be imposing on someone’s special night; a reunion, a date, a celebration, none of which he was invited to. He wouldn’t impose, so he’d excuse himself before he would be invited to join.

But he hadn’t thought at all. He felt the urge to sit and continue this conversation, so he sat.

“I like how it feels in here,” she said, looking around, over her head, and back to him. “It has that background noise you need where you don’t feel like you’re alone. But the space you want, just enough to feel like you’re not surrounded.”

That’s exactly what Ben wanted for his restaurant. It amazed him that she was able to articulate it so perfectly when he hadn’t been able to when other people asked for the restaurant’s _vibe_.

“And I was waiting for a date,” she finally said. Her sigh sounded annoyed but not entirely disappointed. “We were supposed to meet at 6:30. Seeing as it’s now almost 7:15, I think I’ve been stood up. Unless you’re wearing a wig and you’re actually a red head named Armitage.”

Ben bit the urge to laugh. _What a name, and it suited him perfectly._ “This is natural, unfortunately. And I wouldn’t have been late to this date, that’s for sure.”

He could see the woman hiding a smirk behind her hair. His heart soared, like in some stupid romantic comedy.

_This is weird, right? This is super weird. I felt sorry for this woman having never met her and now I’m flirting with her? At my restaurant? Where I should be working?_

That thought was enough for him to jump out of the moment. Before he could make his escape though, Phasma appeared in front of him.

“A drink, sir?”

She placed a napkin and a cardboard coaster in front of him. She was also smiling. Phasma never smiles. She was nice enough to everyone but she never smiles. _What are you up to?_

“Uh…” Ben stuttered, not knowing what to say, not sure what Phasma’s game was here. Was she daring him to keep this woman company? She must know who this was, why she was here. A poor girl on the wrong side of a blind date. Before he could think of an excuse to leave, the girl beside him spoke.

“I’ll be staying for another 30 minutes or so…if you want to join me. Might as well enjoy the place if I’m already here.”

She was looking straight at him now, a challenging look in her eyes. She wanted him to stay and keep her company. Even though she was just stood up. She should’ve been disappointed. Mad. Probably chewing out Armitage and the friends that set them up. But no, she was smiling. She didn’t seem a bit disturbed. She wanted his company, even if it was brief.

“Sure,” Ben finally said, turning over to Phasma. “Jack and Coke, please. Did you need a refill….”

“Rey,” the woman smiled. “My name’s Rey.”

7:45 PM

Ben was walking Rey to her car. Which was several blocks away since she walked to the restaurant rather than finding a new parking spot for a planned date that didn’t even happen. An impromptu date though? It was debatable.

Rey talked about her passion for psychology, even if she was getting a master’s in mechanical engineering. There was a class being taught by a renowned psychologist at her college and she couldn’t pass up the chance to learn from them.

“Anomalistic psychology is really strange. You can chalk things up to coincidence but there could be science behind it all. Things that you may perceive as coincidence can be true, you know? Just because you can’t actually explain what’s going on with scientific fact doesn’t make it wrong. I mean, people believe in religion all the time and sensible people can accept faith to be true even if they don’t believe it themselves. It’s the same with anomalies. The brain is just…  
  


Rey trailed off and Ben turned her head to see why.

“I’m talking too much.”

“No, no, no,” he assured her. A bit too enthusiastically. “It’s all really fascinating. Nothing I would’ve ever studied in college. I could listen to you talk all day. Or night.” His hand pointed to the dark sky.

Rey nudged him with her shoulder as they neared her parking garage. He playfully nudged her back, keeping whatever flirtatious banter they had developed going.

He felt so at ease, nothing that he’s felt in a long, long time. It’s been a while since his last serious relationship and in that one, he had put his business ventures first. Not that it was that hard of a decision, he knew he wouldn’t marry the girl. The development of the Falcon seemed to be the perfect excuse. But now that his restaurant was up and running, he felt a little more comfortable adding more to his plate. Rey, he thought specifically. If this was going as well as he’d thought in his head, he hopes she doesn’t deny him a real first date. Maybe some place he wasn’t the owner of. Which he had weirdly forgot to mention during this whole time with her.

_Maybe I should’ve told her?_

Before he could spiral into his thoughts, Rey gasped as she looked at her phone. “Oh crap, I’m running late. I’m so sorry. I can’t be late for my class. Someone might take my non-assigned seat in the front.”

He couldn’t help but laugh. That is just… _too cute._ His momentary distraction of her adorableness was only cut off when Rey put a hand on his up and reached up to kiss his cheek.

“Thanks for saving the night, Ben,” her eyes shining up at him in the moonlight. _God, how can someone be so beautiful?_ “I’ve never been so glad to be stood up on a date. Maybe I’ll see you there again. Another anomaly, of some sorts. Something we can’t explain with science but it’s still right.”

His words were caught in his chest. He could hear himself trying to form the words to…well, anything.

_Can I get your number?_

_Can I see you again?_

_What was that book you were reading? I have to read it so I can have something to talk about with you._

“See you around,” he heard her saying as she walked away with a smile. There was some hesitation in her step though. A bit of a lingering. Still, Ben couldn’t speak. He’s not usually at a loss for words. He tried moving. He couldn’t lift his arms to gently coax her back to him. Get her number, her email, _anything_ , to make sure he could stay in contact with her. _Hell, tell her to meet you at the restaurant same time tomorrow. Or the next day. Whenever she’s available. Say something, damn it!_

It wasn’t until she was out of view that he finally spoke.

“Fuck.”


End file.
